When Suffolk County passed a law requiring licensed contractors to prove their workers are in the U.S. legally, the county at the far end of Long Island suddenly had something in common with such states as Oklahoma and Arizona.

Since Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer proposed giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants in September, outrage has grown, leaping state boundaries into national politics. Last month, Spitzer offered a compromise to address some of his critics' concerns, but it failed to subdue the protests.